Fourth man charged in alleged anti-Semitic attack in Sydney

November 12, 2013 5:17pm

SYDNEY (JTA) – A fourth man was charged in an alleged anti-Semitic attack on five religious Jews in Sydney.

The 26-year-old appeared in court on Tuesday and was denied bail after being arrested the previous day. Among the charges are possessing a knife in a public place and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He and three others are accused verbally abusing and physically beating four members of the Behar family and Shlomo Ben-Haiem, the educational emissary for the Jewish National Fund, on Oct. 25.

The five, all religious Jews, were walking home after midnight on Oct. 25 when they allegedly were accosted. They were hospitalized, with Eli Behar suffering a brain injury. He was released after two nights in hospital.

Jewish leaders described the alleged assault as the worst anti-Semitic attack of its kind since records began being kept in the late 1980s.

The others charged were two 17-year-olds, who will face juvenile court on Wednesday, and a 23-year-old man who is due to appear in court on Dec. 3.